WE FOUND A HOUSE (AND FRIENDS) IN SAN MIGUEL! AND IT IS STUNNING

We had been looking through the AirBnb listings along with other companies to try and find a place we could call our own in San Miguel de Allende when we descended into our new home town. We found some but they were not available for our dates, or were a bit more pricey than we could afford. In the past months I have had my name on the SMA Civil List and the SMA Renters Forum from Yahoo Groups. In between a bit of whining from some people, that I just ignore, is some very good information about making your way around the town, the happenings going on and all the connections you need to get started in your new life there. I can find info on dentists and doctors, Spanish lessons, cooking classes, events in town, gallery openings and concerts etc. It has certainly been helpful.

For finding a house to rent we put in a really nice notice on the Renters Forum about who we were, our backgrounds, interests, a mention of our blog so people can read even more about us, and of course a list of what we are looking for for a rental. Preferably long term, but we could start with something shorter if it was the right place. We got so many responses right away! And corresponded with some really nice people. 

I guess people appreciated the information we gave since we saw that most people looking for a place put in just when they were arriving and the price they wanted along with a note of how many bedrooms and maybe the area. It really didn’t give an insight as to who they were. Although we didn’t rent from most of those who contacted us, we sent nice emails back and forth and would like to keep in touch with them since many of them sounded really interesting. Especially with regard to travel. We even had responses from people who did not even have a place to rent to us but just really liked what we wrote on our notice and also our blog. We have made promises to meet up with quite a few once we get a bit settled and it will be nice to have some friends to join up with when we get down there.

Through our post on the Rental Forum we have found a beautiful house to rent in the Colonia San Antonio neighborhood that has everything we were looking for and is beautifully cared for with bright colors and artwork. The landlords are fantastic. We will miss them when we get there as they are returning to Oregon and France for the summer months. But I am sure we will become friends when they return in October.  There are 2 floors, 3 bedrooms, one is now a den with fold out couch, 3 1/2 baths, a beautiful living room, dining room with french doors that open wide onto the beautiful patios, fabulous kitchen, gardener, maid twice a week, washer and dryer, all completely furnished and waiting for us!! And it is in our budget and includes all utilities. How great is that. We keep looking at the pictures every day since we love it so much.

Responding from the post we did, there have even been connections to our Council Travel years many, many years ago. This is fantastic!!! Got to love the Internet. Both of these contacts have seen the SMA Renters listing and then our blog. One woman in Cartagena (Barb) contacted us to let us know she had worked at CIEE in New York and she had a friend (Catharine) from another CIEE office who now has a house in San Miguel. Glenn worked with Council Travel in Berkeley, San Francisco and Fresno and I worked in their Davis, Santa Barbara and San Francisco offices. To make things even smaller, our new landlords rented a house from Barb (CIEE woman) in Cartagena when they were there in January. And we just now found out our good friend Mindy (also Council Travel) is friends with Barb. All a bit crazy and so we are looking forward to our move and making new friends. We are counting down the days left (quite possibly this coming Monday the 9th) as we are anxious to start the newest chapter in our lives. And we have a great home base to do it from.